The Tragedy of the Human Condition
by Anti Darth Ani
Summary: [HHr] The Yule Ball arrives during the 7th year at Hogwarts... You're just going to have to read it to find out :)


The Tragedy of the Human Condition  
  
By: Anti Darth Ani  
  
Author's Note: I was listening to the song 'The Tragedy of the Human Condition' by Midtown, and I just decided that I had to write a little fan-fic with that title because I simply love it. So I'm taking a little two or three day break from writing Year 6: Harry Potter and the Seeing Stone to right this wonderful little Harry/Hermione one shot. Enjoy and review please!  
  
Hermione Granger sat, humming a lovely tune she had known since her mother had sung it to her when she was a toddler. Her wand in her right hand, she ran in slowly down the back of her head. The normally head full of waves and circles, the frizzy disaster, slowly turned straight as the wand moved over it. Hermione grinned at the reflection in her full length mirror. She twisted her wand in a half circle like the moon and then into a small spiral. Her hair separated into four equal sections. The one on the left and the one two over from it raised up above her hair. The two sections of hair began to twist in a crazy motion.  
  
Flicking her wand again, two pretty bobby pins flew off of her dresser. One pinned the two twisted sections of hair on top of her hair. The other two began to braid themselves and then weaved in and out between the two twists. They fixed themselves up with the other bobby pin and Hermione sat back in her plush armchair to examine her hair. All and all, it looked fine, even though it wasn't as cool as Hermione had first thought it would be while she had designed it on her Muggle Studies parchment.  
  
She chided herself for spending valuable studying time planning on how she was going to put up her hair. Exams were coming up in one week and she really needed to study, but with the Yule Ball in less than one hour, she couldn't help but care about her hair. Everything about the ball was going to be perfect this year. Last year, she had gone with Seamus Finnigan, who's definition of dancing was repeatedly stepping on her already sore feet.  
  
This year is going to be different, Hermione told herself. It was her last year at Hogwarts, her last Yule Ball, her last chance at the perfect evening. She had the prefect dress. A little black number which showed off all the right places and the numerous curves that had developed over the past two years. It was as short as the teachers would allow it to be, and it material was extremely revealing, according to Lavender Brown, who was very envious. The straps were less than an inch wide and they crossed in an X pattern over her back. The back was left open, leaving all the skin down to her waist exposed, except for the X. The two parts of the X came up and attached to the halter top tie around her neck. And even though it was a halter top, the neckline came down in a V-neck and exposed most of the area above her chest.  
  
She also had the perfect shoes to go with her to die for dress. They were one and a half inch high heels, which were black. She had jinxed them to have blinking sparkles on the strap across her toes. They would be killing her feet by the end of the night, but she would worry about that later.  
  
She even had the perfect jewelry to top off the outfit. A nice, expensive pearl necklace her mother had given her the year before. She also had matching earrings that she had to beg Lavender to borrow. She had debated wearing a really cute ring she had also gotten from Lavender, but at the last minute she decided against it.  
  
Most importantly of all, she had the perfect date to take her to the dance. That was the only part of the sweet deal she had been worried. Every year, she ended up going with someone she wasn't too excited about. Sure, Viktor Krum was a famous Quidditch player, but besides that, there wasn't much about him she enjoyed. And Seamus Finnigan didn't like her as more than just a friend, which had been a relief to Hermione when Ron had mentioned this to her. But this year, she hadn't been a last resort. This year she was going with someone she would enjoy the ball with. Harry Potter.  
  
She certainly had been surprised when he had asked her. After one of his wonderful Quidditch games, in which he had pulled Gryffindor from behind to win, Harry had pulled her away into a secluded corner of the arena, still in his Quidditch robes, smiling from ear to ear. He had simply asked her. No small talk first, no nervous stammering like he usual got about these types of questions, just a simple invitation to join him, as his date, for the Yule Ball. She had been so delighted she hadn't be able to concentrate on her homework at all that night.  
  
Now, with the dance only fifteen minutes away, Hermione glanced one last time at her reflection in the mirror. She knew Harry would already be down in the common room, waiting for her. Sighing before taking in a deep breath of air to help calm down her pounding heart, Hermione stepped down the stairs to the common room.  
  
Ron and Harry were sitting at the trio's favorite couch in the common room, right in front of the fireplace. A lot of other Gryffindors were talking excitedly all around the room, all the fourth years and above dressed up for the Yule Ball. Both Harry and Ron smiled when they saw Hermione walking across the room towards them. Harry looked very nice, Hermione noticed first as she reached the two of them. He was dressed up in a nice pair of black slacks. She couldn't tell what his shirt looked like because of his dress robes, which were also a dark black.  
  
She could tell Harry was looking her over, which caused a like pink blush to creep onto her cheeks. Ron commented on how lovely she looked and she thanked him before turning her attention back to Harry. Harry didn't say a word, just held out his arm to her. Hermione giggled softly and accepted his arm, wrapping her arm around his. They both said bye to Ron as they stepped out of the hole behind the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
Hermione wanted to say something, anything, to relieve them of some on the tension that floated above their heads like a cloud. "I'm glad they're having the Yule Ball again this year," Hermione told him. The only sound that answered her was the sound of her high heels on the polished concrete floor.  
  
Harry seemed to nod and then look straight ahead. He was having a hard time thinking straight, with Hermione's perfume flowing under his nose. He found it hard to just keep his brain working. He didn't even care about his mouth or throat working, as long as he remembered to breathe properly.  
  
Hermione stopped walking and turned around to face Harry, "Is everything all right, Harry? Are you feeling sick? Maybe we should stay in tonight and not worry about the Yule Ball."  
  
Harry shook his head and cleared his throat, "No, no… I'm good. Just a little, worried is all."  
  
Hermione looked him in the eyes, "Worried? Worried about what?" she asked him, concern filling her eyes as she looked right at him. Harry didn't really know why he was worried, but he sure knew he was. Harry shrugged and pulled Hermione on further down the hall. Hermione decided to ignore this for now, but she was going to make sure she brought it up again a little later during the ball.  
  
The Great Hall looked amazing, with the usual floating candle now surrounding by icicle lights as well. Hermione gasped when they entered the hall together. The decorations were fantastic. "Harry, look!" she squealed, pointing at the tables, which were hovering a foot in the air. When someone sat down on one of the chairs, it rose to meet the table. "This is incredible!" she whispered, turning in a full circle to look around. Lights, like the ones on her shoes, sparkled all over the middle of the room, which had been transformed into a dance floor.  
  
"Come on," she urged, pushing her way through the crowd and pulling Harry along with her. "I want to dance," she called over her shoulder in his general direction. A lot of Hogwarts students had beat them to it, but there was still a lot of room for them. Hermione pulled Harry towards the center of the floor until she found a place she liked, then stopped and turned to face him, her eyes shining like the stars.  
  
She reached out for his other hand and pulled him a little closer. She lifted their arms up higher and started to sway her hips to the music. Harry just stood still and watched Hermione move in that amazing little black dress. He could feel all the blood rush down south of the border as Hermione threw her head back slightly and let out a small laugh and her hips moved faster to match the beat.  
  
Harry hoped Hermione couldn't tell how sweaty his palms were becoming. "Harry, come on!" she shouted over the music, pulling him even closer. "Shake it a little," she murmured, twirling around under one of his arms, her short dress flailing out around her like an umbrella. She stopped with her back to him, and like most of the other girls on the dance floor, wrapped his arms around her waist. She then began to dance very, very up close to him, her back sometimes rubbing slightly up against his chest. She twisted up and down and then back and forth.  
  
Swallowing the knot forming in his throat, Harry began to move slowly with her. She really was intoxicating, whether he had realized that before or not. Harry noticed, with slight embarrassment, that a lot of other couples had stopped moving and stood, watching them dance. A few even began to clap and murmur there envy. Harry's face was becoming bright red, either from blushing or sweating. "Hermione, can we take a break?" he asked her in her ear.  
  
Hermione stopped moving and nodded, pulling him through the gathered crowd, who were all complaining that they had stopped. While they made their way to the table Ginny and Ron were sitting at, all the other students on the dance floor began to dance like Hermione and Harry had again. Hermione sank down into an empty chair on the ground and Harry sat down on the one next to her. They were both lifted up and now they could see the top of the table.  
  
Ginny and Dean Thomas were sitting together, extremely close (too close for Ron's liking) and Dean was whispering something into Ginny's ear. She began to giggle hysterically, not because of what he had said, but because he had just playfully bitten her earlobe. Ron was staring at them from across the table. Lavender, who had reluctantly agreed to be his date, was not at the table, but off dancing with the Seeker for the Ravenclaw team.  
  
"Man, this is turning out to be a blast!" Hermione told Ginny, who nodded in agreement. "Dean and I haven't even been out of the dance floor yet," she admitted, taking a sip of her Butterbeer.  
  
Dean chuckled, "Only because Ginny here has two left feet and neither of them know how to dance." Ginny gasped and slapped his arm, "I do not!"  
  
Dean gave her a questioning look, "Sure you don't, Gin. I mean, I guess it wasn't totally your fault last year when you stepped all over my feet, broke my little toe and sent me to the hospital wing during the Yule Ball." Dean kissed her forehead, but she pushed him softly away.  
  
"Now I don't want to dance with you, Dean, since you're making fun of me," Ginny told him, glancing over at Harry. "I think I'll just have to dance the next song with Harry."  
  
Harry gulped down some of his own Butterbeer and nodded slowly. Dean looked around the table once. "Well, if you're going to dance with Harry, then I guess Hermione and I are just going to have to get out on that dance floor with the two of you."  
  
Ginny grinned and grabbed Harry's hands across Hermione's place setting. All four of their chairs began to decent down to the floor. Ginny immediately seized Harry and dragged him out on the dance floor with her. Dean offered his hand to Hermione, who giggled and took it, letting him lead the way after Ginny.  
  
As the four of them found enough space to dance, a slow song started. Ginny casually looped her arms around Harry's neck while he awkwardly rested his hands on her waist. Dean wrapped one hand around Hermione's waist and then held one of her hands in his other. The four of them began to dance in the middle of the crowd, moving slowly to match the rhythm of the music. Hermione rested her head on Dean's shoulder and looked out of the corner of her eye at Harry, who was looking back at her. They both began to smile at the same time.  
  
"So you really got a crush on him, don't you?" Dean whispered against her ear. Hermione shrugged, pretending like she didn't know the answer, even though she most definitely did. Dean chuckled softly, causing Hermione to smile wider. "Oh, don't even try to lie to me, Granger. I see the way you look at him. We all see it."  
  
Hermione sighed and leaned a little more on Dean. Her feet were already starting to kill her, "I don't even know anymore," she admitted truthfully, glancing at Harry, who was listening to something Ginny was whispering in his ear. "I mean, I feel like there's something there, but it just doesn't seem like he feels the same way. And the last thing I want to do is make an ass out of myself."  
  
Dean Thomas held her hand against his chest and swayed to the music with her, "If you ask me, or anyone else in Gryffindor, they would tell you that he feels the same way." Hermione blushed slightly, grateful Dean couldn't tell. "I don't know how you and Ginny have managed to stay together for two years now."  
  
Dean shrugged and Hermione felt his shoulders move up and down. "We just do. Ginny's so sweet. Sometimes crazy too, but you have to blame that on Fred and George." Hermione laughed and agreed. Fred and George Weasley's were the craziest troublemakers ever to attend Hogwarts. Even worse than James Potter and his friends.  
  
The song ended and another slow one started. Ginny and Harry pulled apart, as did Dean and Hermione. "Maybe it's you, Dean," Harry teased, "My feet feel fine."  
  
Hermione looked up at Dean, "Well, it's not Dean. Dean dances like a pro."  
  
Ginny scoffed and gave a questioning look to her boyfriend, "Since when does Thomas dance like a pro?" she asked, sliding into his arms and twirling around in a circle, giggling when he dropped a kiss on her mouth. Ginny moaned and leaned into him. Dean staggered a bit backwards, luckily not running into anyone else. "We'll see you guys later," he manage to tell Harry and Hermione before grabbing Ginny's hand and running away through the crowds.  
  
Harry laughed, "How much do you want to bet that we won't see the two of them again until tomorrow?" Hermione grinned and giggled, wrapping her arms around Harry without a word. He run his hands down to her waist and rested a hand on either hip. He instinctively pulled her closer, causing her to blush a little. The song was wonderful, filling Hermione with hope and love for all the good things in life that hadn't arrived yet.  
  
"Are you still worried?" she asked him softly. Harry shook his head and then looked down to meet her gaze. His eyes bore into hers with such intensity, that she wanted to look away but just couldn't. "God, Hermione," he whispered, letting go of her waist with one hand to tuck some strands of hair that had gotten loose behind her ear, "you look so…"  
  
"Different?" she asked, her voice barely audible over the music.  
  
"No," Harry told her quickly, resting his hand back on her waist. "Not different. Well, I mean you do look different, but I wasn't going to say different."  
  
"Then what were you going to say?" she asked, her eyes staring right back at his. Harry swallowed, pulling her an inch closer, "Sexy," he whispered against her ear.  
  
Hermione let out the softest of moans at the word he used to describe her. "Harry," she whimpered as he nipped playfully at her earlobe. She pulled him even closer, until his chest was flush up against her burning chest. "We…we really," she tried to finish her sentence but it took a lot of effort. "…can't…not here…" she muttered as he continued his attack on her ear.  
  
"Can't help, Hermione," Harry whispered in her ear, sending a wonderful chill down her spine, "you're perfume has been driving me crazy all night." Hermione gasped when he ran his tongue along the inside of her earlobe.  
  
"If Dumbledore sees us," she warned, her fingers wrapping the little hairs on the back of his neck around the tips.  
  
"Fine," Harry mumbled, pulled his mouth away from her ear and resting his head against the side of hers. They continued to dance in silence, both bewildered by what had just happened between them. After another minute, Harry's hand began to wonder a little.  
  
"Harry, that's my leg," Hermione whispered near his ear. Harry just continued to dance, his hand running along the soft skin on her leg. "Yeah, I know," he muttered against her head, his hand finding a place it liked on her upper thigh and resting there.  
  
"Harry," she gasped in a wonderful way against his neck. "Not here," she managed to say before burying her head against his shoulder in an attempt to get her mind off the feelings his hand was causing.  
  
"Then can we please go somewhere?" Harry begged against her neck, his fingers inching ever so close to the bottom of her dress. Hermione felt her breaths coming in short pants as she began to kiss his neck. She nodded against his shoulder as her hand pulled his away, leading him off of the dance floor to somewhere a little more private.  
  
Ginny and Dean, who were sitting at the table with Ron and Lavender, saw the two of them dashing from the room. Ginny prodded Dean with her shoulder and pointed under the table to Harry and Hermione, who were turning around the corner and down the hallway. "I think it worked," she whispered to him. Dean nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulders before taking another sip of his Butterbeer and sliding back in his chair.  
  
"This is crazy!" Hermione called out as they raced down the hallway to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Harry stopped moving for a moment, causing Hermione to stop and spin around. He quickly rested his hand against her cheek and pulled her urgently against his lips. Mouths making contact, Hermione moaned against his mouth. She took a step closer to him, her shoe catching in a crack in the floor, causing her to lunge forward, fully against him.  
  
Gripping on to his shoulders, she succeed in pushing him up against the wall. "Harry," she moaned against him just before his tongue dived into her mouth. He turned them around so that she was pressed up against the wall instead. His hand instantly went back to her leg, running up her leg, pulling it up as he did. Hermione's hands grasped his hair, pulling his head closer as her tongue danced a wild frenzy with his.  
  
"I can't make it back to the common room," Harry complained, releasing her lips to kiss down her neck. Man, she was going to be bruised tomorrow, he could already tell. Hermione nodded, turning her head to the side so he could kiss her better. His lips were driving her crazy, and that was even before he lowered his mouth to rest on the cleavage hanging out of the top of her v-neck.  
  
"The prefects' bathroom," Hermione gasped, pulling his head as hard as she could against her chest. "No one will even think about going in there tonight." Harry loved the idea, but he didn't want to have to let go up her silky leg again, so he lifted them both up off the ground, and Hermione immediately wrapped them around his waist. Harry could feel the fabric of her underwear, even through his dress robes.  
  
He carried her as quickly as he could to the prefects' bathroom. He pushed the door open with one hand as Hermione brought his mouth urgently back to his. She dismounted him quickly, their lips never breaking contact. She began to quickly untie his robes while Harry pushed her dress up. He managed to pull it up all the way, an electric feeling shooting up through him when his hands grazed over her breasts. Hermione felt this too, because she moaned and pushed the robes back on his shoulders. Then she lifted her arms so that the dress came off and Harry pulled his arms back so she could take off his robes.  
  
"This is crazy," she murmured when their lips clashed together again. Harry ran his hands up and down her bare sides as she worked on the buckle of his belt around his waist. "What are we thinking?" she whispered, getting the buckle undone and quickly pulling the belt out of its five loops around his waist. She threw it against the ground with a clattering sound and began to unbutton the front of his shirt.  
  
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm thinking about how it's going to feel to be inside of you for the first time," Harry whispered against her ear. Hermione shivered at this, hearing what he was implying and liking it, no matter how dirty it seemed. Harry's hands wrapped around behind her back and unsnapped the clasp of her bra before she even realized it.  
  
"I want to feel you, Hermione," he murmured against her ear, nuzzling under it with his nose. "I want to touch you like you've never let me before." He stopped while she yanked his shirt off and her bra fell to the floor. She didn't even have time to be embarrassed as she pulled Harry back to her to unzip his pants. "Hermione, I want to make love to you," he told her softly, looking her straight in the eyes.  
  
Hermione's fingers froze on the zipper to his pants, which was halfway down already. "Oh, Harry," she cried, wrapping her arms around his neck, bringing his bare chest flush against hers. Harry had to hold back a moan at the contact. He instantly wanted his annoying pants off. He began to pull them off as Hermione pulled away and walked away topless to the large prefect bathtub, which was the size of a pool. She began to twist and pull different buttons. The water began to bubble and colored foam frosted over the surface of the water while Harry finally managed to get out of his annoying pants.  
  
He came up behind Hermione and latched his hands onto her breasts. She let out her loudest moan yet, leaning her head back against his chest, "Oh my, Harry," she whispered, resting her hands on his arms, telling him to grab her harder. He began a serious attack on her neck, causing her to whimper like a dog. "I need you, Harry."  
  
Hermione Granger gasped in pure pleasure. She knew how much his arms must be hurting him by down, but she couldn't force herself away to let him slide back into the water. Having him support himself a ways out of the water made things so much easier for her. She snuggled her head into his shoulder, "Mmm, that was so wonderful you can't even imagine, Harry."  
  
Harry smirked, "I do believe I can imagine, since I was here the entire time it happened." Hermione giggled against him, admiring how strong his arms had gotten from playing Quidditch for the past seven years. If James and Lily Potter were still alive, Hermione couldn't even begin to imagine how proud they would be of their son. Well, maybe not that he had just had sex with her in the prefect bath, but about becoming Quidditch captain and leading his team to win the Quidditch Cup last year.  
  
"This summer," Hermione murmured, leaving a gentle kiss on his swollen lips, "you're going to have to come spend a month with me with my Muggle parents. No way of knowing the kind of trouble we could get into back home." Harry grinned, sadly sorry he couldn't use his hands to touch her at the time being, since he was propping himself up in the corner of the tub.  
  
"I'd like that," Harry admitted, leaning as far forward as he dared. Hermione came and met him the rest of the way, running her tongue over his bottom lip before he sucked it into his mouth. Just as she was about to moan, the door to the bathroom banged open. Harry scrambled to let go of the side and Hermione took a deep breath, slipping under the surface of the water. Harry shortly followed after her.  
  
"Ginny, are you sure this is where they are?" Dean Thomas asked, looking around the empty bathroom. Ginny nodded and pointed to the two dots on the map. "The Marauder's Map never lies, Dean," she told him, starting to roll it up. He placed his hand on her shoulder and pointed to a tiny, black garment laying in the corner, discarded.  
  
Dean bent down next to it and picked it up. He held the thin piece of string in bewilderment. "Ginny?" he asked, turning to face her. She shook her head immediately as soon as she saw it, "DEAN!!!! Put it DOWN!" she hissed, rolling up the map and hitting him in the back of the head with it. "Asshole!"  
  
"What?" he snapped back, looking at the thing in his hands, "What's the big deal?"  
  
"That's Hermione's thong, for Pete's sake, Dean," Ginny groaned. Shock filled Dean, which was followed closely by horror as he threw the offending garment as far away from him as he possibly could. And to think he had touched it!  
  
"There!" Ginny pointed to the tub covered in bubbles. A little wrinkle covered its surface. Ginny grabbed her boyfriend's hand and pulled him quietly over to that spot in the bathroom. "Hey, Gin?" Dean asked, leaning over her, "How come you don't wear a thong?"  
  
Ginny turned around to face him, "Why, Thomas? Would you like to see me in that?" she asked seductively, wrapping her arms around his neck. Dean smirked and kissed the tip of her nose, "Well, maybe not THAT one, but I don't think I would mind seeing you in something similar," he muttered against her lips.  
  
"Ginny?" Hermione snapped, who had just surfaced in need of air. Ginny turned back around to face her friend. She leaned down to be more level, "Hey, Hermione. I'm glad you and Harry are having a good time, but Draco's on his way here to make sure no one's in the bathtub after hours, so you might want to get out. Tell Harry for us, would you? I'd stay and tell him myself, but I have something urgent I have to show Dean."  
  
Hermione blushed, but didn't remark and she slipped back under the surface. Ginny entwined her fingers with Dean's and lead the way to the bathroom door. "What do you have to show me?" he asked.  
  
Ginny rolled her eyes as she pushed the door open and slipped out into the hallway, "My thong, silly." 


End file.
